Linear visualization of a driving route

ABSTRACT

A nonlinear route for traveling from a source to a destination is determined. The route includes a sequence of (i) route segments and (ii) intermediate geographic locations defining endpoints of the route segments. A linear visual representation of the route on a titled plane to a create a three-dimensional perspective is generated and displayed via a user interface of a computing device. Indicators of the intermediate geographic locations are positioned along the linear visual representation of the route, interactive controls for retrieving additional information related to the intermediate geographic locations are provided, and the linear representation of the route is displayed via a user interface of a computing device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/346,223, filed Nov. 8, 2016; the entire contents which are herebyincorporated by reference for all purposes.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The following disclosure generally relates to a system and method forpresenting driving directions to a user and, in particular, to aninteractive linear representation of a route.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided herein is for the purpose ofgenerally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of thepresently named inventors, to the extent it is described in thisbackground section, as well as aspects of the description that may nototherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neitherexpressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the presentdisclosure.

Today, navigation systems that provide driving directions to users areavailable as dedicated devices and are accessible via personal computersas well as various portable devices. These navigation systems typicallydetermine a route to a destination and provide a sequence of drivinginstructions for the determined route, such as “turn left on MainStreet” or “drive north for two miles.” Navigation systems also canillustrate navigation routes on digital maps by visually emphasizing theroad segments that make up the route, for example. These illustrationsreflect the actual geometry of the routes but do not offer intuitive andefficient interactivity.

SUMMARY

A navigation system generates an interactive linear visualrepresentation, or “visualization,” of a navigation route havingnon-linear geometry. The linear visualization can include a depiction ofthe navigation route from an origin to a destination as a line, therebyreducing the amount of screen real estate required to depict thenavigation route. Indications of geographic location at which segmentsof the navigation route meet can be disposed on or along the line.Initially, the linear visualization can include only some of the routesegments and the indications of corresponding geographic locations, soas to provide a simplified view of the navigation route. Further, thenavigation system can include controls for selectively expandingportions of the linear visualization to view additional, typically moreminor, route segments and geographic locations.

One example embodiment of these techniques is a method for generatinginteractive representations of navigation routes. The method includesdetermining, by one or more processors, a nonlinear route for travelingfrom a source to a destination. The route includes a sequence of (i)route segments and (ii) intermediate geographic locations definingendpoints of the route segments. The method also includes generating, byone or more processors, an initial linear visual representation of theroute and displaying the linear representation of the route via a userinterface of a computing device. More particularly, generating theinitial linear visual representation of the route includes selecting aninitial subset of the intermediate geographic locations, the initialsubset not including at least of the intermediate geographic locationsin the sequence, positioning indicators of the intermediate geographiclocations along a single line, and providing an interactive controlwhich, when activated, generates an expanded linear visualrepresentation of the route. The expanded linear visual representationincludes at least one of the intermediate geographic locations notselected for the initial linear visual representation.

Another example embodiment of these techniques is a portable computingdevice including a user interface and processing hardware. Theprocessing hardware is configured to: obtain a nonlinear route fortraveling from a source to a destination, the route including a sequenceof (i) route segments and (ii) intermediate geographic locationsdefining endpoints of the route segments; position indicators of theintermediate geographic locations along a single line; provide aninteractive control which, when activated, generates an expanded linearvisual representation of the route, such that the expanded linear visualrepresentation includes at least one of the intermediate geographiclocations not selected for the initial linear visual representation; anddisplay the linear representation of the route via the user interface.

Yet another example embodiment of these techniques is a non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storing thereon instructions. When executed byone or more processors, the instructions cause the one or moreprocessors to obtain a nonlinear route for traveling from a source to adestination, the route including a sequence of (i) route segments and(ii) intermediate geographic locations defining endpoints of the routesegments; select a first subset of the intermediate geographiclocations, the first subset not including at least of the intermediategeographic locations in the sequence; generate an initial linear visualrepresentation of the route to depict the first subset of theintermediate geographic locations, including position indicators of theintermediate geographic locations in the first subset along a singleline; select a second subset of the intermediate geographic locations,the second subset including at least one intermediate geographiclocation not included in the first subset; and generate an updatedlinear visual representation of the route to depict the second subset ofthe intermediate geographic locations, including position indicators ofthe intermediate geographic locations in the second subset along thesingle line

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system in which techniques forpresenting a linear visualization of a driving route may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is an example user interface screen depicting an interactivelinear visualization of a navigation route, which the computing deviceof FIG. 1 can generate;

FIG. 3 is an example user interface screen the computing device of FIG.1 can generate to illustrate progress the navigation route of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates user activation of an interactivecontrol that can be provided as part of the interactive linearvisualization of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is an example user interface screen the computing device of FIG.1 can generate in response to a user activating the interactive controlof FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an example user interface screen the computing device of FIG.1 can generate to illustrate the current position of the computingdevice relative to the intermediate geographic locations depicted aspart of the interactive linear visualization;

FIG. 7 is an example user interface screen the computing device of FIG.1 can generate to provide a three-dimensional view of an interactivelinear visualization of a navigation route;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example interactive icon which the computingdevice of FIG. 1 can provide in an interactive linear visualization of anavigation route;

FIGS. 9A-9B are example user interface screens in which an interactivelinear visualization and output of a certain software application occupyrespective independent panels; and

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram of an example method for generating aninteractive linear visualization of a navigation route.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Overview

A navigation system of this disclosure generates an interactive linearvisualization of a navigation route that has nonlinear geometry. Moreparticularly, the navigation route can include multiple route segmentsbetween pairs of intermediate geographic locations, which also can bereferred to as “waypoints.” When arranged sequentially, these routesegments make up a polyline. The navigation system of this disclosurereduces the geometric complexity of the polyline to reduce the amount ofscreen real estate required to display the navigation route and toimprove the overall efficiency of presenting navigation directions to auser, as discussed below.

In an example scenario, user Alice requests driving directions from herhome to a place with which she is generally unfamiliar. The navigationsystem determines a navigation route that includes a sequence of eightroute segments. The first three segments connect Alice's home to ahighway: (1) 0.1 miles down Maple to the intersection of Maple and Main,(2) 1.2 miles down Main to the ramp of I-90, and (3) 0.1 miles along theramp to I-90. The navigation system also can generate correspondingnavigation directions describing the route segments and/or maneuvers atwaypoints: “head north on Maple,” “turn right onto Main,” “take Maineast for 0.6 miles,” “use the right lane to get on I-90.” The next twosegments connect the entrance of the highway to an exit from anotherhighway: (4) 10 miles west on I-90, then (5) 2 miles south on I-91. Thelast three segments connect the exit from the highway to Alice'sdestination: (6) 2.2 miles down State St. to the intersection of Stateand Elm, (7) 0.3 miles east down Elm to the intersection of Elm andLake, and (8) 0.1 miles down Lake.

To generate a linear visualization of the navigation route describedabove, the navigation system can reduce the complexity of the polylinedefined by the navigation and present some or all of the waypoints on oralong a depiction of a straight line. Depending on the implementation,the distances between waypoints along the straight line can be equal,proportional to the distances between the waypoints along the polyline,or illustrative of the differences between the distances between thewaypoints along the polyline without being directly proportional, etc.As a more specific example of the latter implementation, the firstsegment between Alice's home and the intersection of Maple and Main isapproximately twelve times shorter than the next segment between theintersection of Maple and Main and the ramp of I-90, but the navigationsystem can place the “home” and “Maple/Main” waypoints N units apart andthe “Maple/Main” and “I-90 entrance” waypoints 3N units apart on theline. In this manner, the linear visualization can convey the differencein distances while efficiently utilizing screen real estate.

In one example implementation, the navigation system initially cangenerate a linear visualization that includes only some of thewaypoints, and accordingly merges multiple route segments into a commonline segment, so as to further simplify the presentation of thenavigation route. The waypoints in this initial set can be the “major”locations such as significant intersections, freeway interchanges,prominent landmarks, etc. The navigation system can omit from theinitial linear visualization the more “minor” locations such asintersections between smaller streets or less prominent landmarks. Thenavigation system also can consider relative distances of route segmentsto assess potential importance. Moreover, in some implementations, thenavigation system can assess the degree of user's familiarity withportions of the navigation route based on explicitly set “home” and“work” locations, previously visited locations or previously submittednavigation queries, etc. and omit otherwise important waypoints and thecorresponding route segments because the user is unlikely to requireguidance for these parts of the journey. In some implementations, usersoperate certain controls or install certain applications to allow thenavigation system to consider the user's previously visited locations inassisting the user in navigation.

Referring again to the scenario involving Alice, the navigation systemcan determine that the first and second route segments are near Alice'shome. Accordingly, the navigation system can omit the waypoint“intersection of Maple and Main” between segments (1) and (2). Tocontinue with this example, the navigation system can determine that theroute segments (3) and (4) correspond to different road types. To thisend, the navigation system can query a map database to compare speedlimit data (e.g., “20 mph in segment (3) and 65 mph in segment (4)),compare the number of lanes, etc. The navigation system thus candetermine that the waypoint between segments (3) and (4) is major.Further, the navigation system can determine that segments (4) and (5)correspond to similar types of roads, segments (5) and (6) correspond todifferent types of roads, and segments (6)-(8) correspond to similartypes of roads. Still further, the navigation system can determine thatthe user is probably unfamiliar with the geographic area segments(6)-(8) traverse. In view of these factors, the navigation system caninclude in the initial linear visualization the waypoints connectingsegments (3) and (4), (5) and (6), (6) and (7), and (7) and (8).

The linear visualization can include interactive controls to allow theuser to inspect route segments and waypoints omitted from the initiallinear visualization. The interactive controls may be buttons, icons,portions of the line on which the waypoints are disposed, voicecontrols, etc. These or other controls also can allow the user tocollapse route segments to reduce the amount of detail. In the examplescenario above, the navigation system in response to a user command canexpand the section between the “home” and “I-90 entrance” to view routesegments (1), (2) and (3). The navigation system thus can allow the userto “drill down” into the navigation route” to view details at particularportions of the linear visualization. The navigation system in somecases also can allow the user to expand the visible portions of thelinear visualization at multiple levels.

The navigation system can represent waypoints on the line usinginteractive icons. In one example implementation, the icons representthe type of geographic feature disposed at the corresponding geographiclocation: a bridge, a tower, a temple, etc. The linear visualizationalso may include an icon representing the current location of the useralong the navigation route. As the user advances along the navigationroute, the icon can advance along the linear visualization accordingly.As the user icon advances, the navigation system can collapse, changethe size or emphasis, or entirely remove one or more route segments thatthe user icon has passed.

The linear visualization of the navigation route further can includedriving instructions for the proximal maneuver to transition from oneroute segment to another. For example, a text or image indicating thenext immediate driving instruction and/or location can be persistentacross expansion and/or collapse operations by a user.

Also, the navigation system in some implementations can depict mapfeatures on or next to the linear visualization of the navigation route.The positioning of these map features relative to the linearvisualization or each other need not correspond precisely to real-worldgeometry. For example, a portion of a lake can be schematically depictednext to a waypoint to illustrate general proximity of the feature of thewaypoint, without conveying the precise direction or distance.

As discussed below, the navigation system can implement variousadditional features to provide a linear visualization of a navigationroute. For example, the linear visualization can appear to be disposedon a plane tilted relative to the plane of the user interface screen, sothat the more proximate waypoints appear closer than the more distantones. The more proximate portions of the linear visualization also canbe darker than the more distant ones, to better convey the sense ofperspective. Further, the navigation system can include indications oftraffic in the linear visualization. For example, one segment of theline can appear in red to indicate heavy traffic, another segment canappear in orange to indicate lighter traffic, etc.

The navigation system can be implemented in one or more network serversand/or a client device. For example, a client device in oneimplementation receives a description of a nonlinear route from anetwork server and generates a linear visualization locally. The clientdevice in general can be a computing device such as a desktop or laptopcomputer, a portable computing device such as a smartphone, a wearablecomputing device such as a smartwatch, a dedicated navigation devicesuch as a navigation system built into a vehicle or mounted in avehicle, etc. The client device in some implementations also can projectthe linear visualization onto a separate display device such as a screenin the head unit of a vehicle.

For ease of explanation, the examples below refer to driving routes.However, the linear visualization techniques of this disclosure also canbe applied to walking routes or biking routes, for example.

Further, although the examples below focus on the linear implementation,in other implementations a navigation system can similarly positionindications of waypoints and/or route segments along an arc, forexample. More particularly, to display a navigation route on around-faced smartwatch, for example, the navigation system can reducethe complexity of a polyline to map the vertices onto a circle.

Next, these techniques are discussed in more detail below with referenceto FIGS. 1-10. In particular, embodiments of an example system in whicha navigation system can generate an interactive linear visualization ofa navigation route are described with reference to FIG. 1, example userinterfaces including a linear visualization of a navigation route aredescribed with reference to FIGS. 2-9B, and an example method forgenerating a linear visualization of a navigation route is discussedwith reference to FIG. 10.

Example Computing System

Referring first to FIG. 1, an example system 100 includes a computingdevice 112 coupled to a map server 114 and a navigation server 116 via acommunication network 118. The computing device 112 can be a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a smartphone, anavigation device mounted in a vehicle, or another suitable device. Thenetwork 118 in general can include one or more wired and/or wirelesscommunication links and may include, for example, a wide area network(WAN) such as the Internet, a local area network (LAN), a cellulartelephone network, or another suitable type of network.

The computing device 112 can include one or more processors 120, acomputer-readable memory 122, one or more input/output (I/O) interfaces124, and a positioning module 126. In various implementations, thecomputing device 112 can include additional components, such as one ormore wired and/or wireless network interfaces, peripheral devices suchas a mouse, etc.

The I/O interface 124 can include a touchpad over which the user moveshis fingers while looking at a separately provided screen, a touchscreenwhere the user places his fingers directly over the image beingmanipulated or over a displayed control being activated (e.g. adisplayed keyboard), a keyboard, a mouse, etc. In some implementationsor scenarios, the computing device 112 receives input and providesoutput via external devices such as the touchscreen embedded in the headunit of a vehicle, for example.

The processor 120 can include a central processing unit (CPU). Moregenerally, the computing device 112 can include one or more processorsand, if desired, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs) as well asother processing units. The memory 122 can be a computer-readablenon-transitory storage device that may include both persistent (e.g., ahard disk, a flash drive) and non-persistent (e.g., RAM) memorycomponents. The memory 122 also can store instructions that implement anavigation module 130, which in turn can include a linear routevisualization module 132. The navigation module 130 can operate as acomponent of a dedicated navigation and/or mapping application or an APIor plugin in a third-party application such as a web browser, forexample. In operation, the navigation module 130 can use map data 131that can include a description of a nonlinear route, definitions of mapfeatures in a vector-based or rasterized format, descriptions ofgeo-located businesses, etc. The navigation module 130 can receive themap data 131 from the map server 114 and the navigation server 116.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the map server 134 can include oneor more processors 140 and one or more memories 142 storing instructionsthat implement a map request processor 144. The map server 114 can becommunicatively coupled a map database 134. Similarly, the navigationserver 116 can include one or more processors 150 and one or morememories 152. The memory modules 142 and 152 can be non-transitorystorage devices including persistent (e.g., a hard disk, a flash drive)and/or non-persistent (e.g., RAM) memory components. The memory 152 canstore instructions executable on the processor(s) 150 that make uplinear route visualization module 154. In some implementations, thelinear route visualization module 154 executes some of the functionsrelated to generating linear visualizations of navigation routes (e.g.,polyline simplification) while the linear route visualization module 132implements other functions (e.g., waypoint selection and rendering).More generally, however, the functionality of generating linearvisualization of navigation routes can be distributed between themodules 132 and 154 in any desired manner, including implementing theentire functionality in only the module 132 or only the module 154.

The map server 114, the navigation server 116, and the navigation module130 can operate as components of a navigation system of this disclosure.Because the various functions of the navigation system can bedistributed among these and other components in any suitable manner,actions performed by the navigation system can be actions performedindividually by one of these components or collectively by groups of twoor more of these components.

In operation, a user of the computing device 112 can request, via theI/O interface 124, navigation directions from a point of origin, whichimplicitly can correspond to the user's current location, to adestination. The linear route visualization module 132 can receive mapdata 131 from the map server 114 via the network 118, or use pre-storedmap data 131. After obtaining the map data, the linear routevisualization module 132 can generate the linear visualization of thenavigation route and present the interactive linear visualization viathe I/O interface 124 of the computing device 112.

In another implementation, the navigation module 130 can transmit arequest for data specifically for generating a linear visualization of anavigation to the navigation server 116. The linear route visualizationmodule 154 in response can generate the linear visualization of thenavigation route, which may include requesting and retrieving at leastsome map data 134 from the map server 114 via the network 118. Thelinear visualization of the navigation route can include indications ofintermediate geographic locations to be presented on or along adepiction of a line, one or more images to be included in thevisualization, one or more driving instructions, etc. The navigationserver 116 can transmit the linear visualization of the navigation routeto the computing device 112, and the navigation module 130 can presentthe interactive linear visualization of the route via the I/O interface124.

After providing the initial linear visualization of the navigationroute, the navigation module 130 can modify the entire linearvisualization or a selected portion of the linear visualization inresponse to user input. Examples of user input include gestures appliedto a touchscreen, button presses, mouse clicks, voice commands, etc.

Further, the navigation module 130 can automatically update the linearvisualization of the navigation route in response to a change oflocation on the part of the computing device 112. For example, thenavigation module 130 may update the linear visualization to showadvancement of the computing device 112 along the navigation route, orto show that the computing device 112 has deviated from the navigationroute.

For simplicity, FIG. 1 illustrates each of the map server 114 and thenavigation server 116 as only one instance of a server device. However,according to some implementations, the map server 114 and/or thenavigation server 116 can include a group of one or more server devices,each equipped with one or more processors and capable of operatingindependently of the other server devices. For example, map serverdevices operating in such a group can process requests from thecomputing device 112 individually (e.g., based on availability), in adistributed manner where one operation associated with processing arequest is performed on one map server device while another operationassociated with processing the same request is performed on another mapserver device, or according to any other suitable technique. Further,the map server and navigation server may be separate server devices, orat least some of the functions of each may be included in one or moreintegral server devices.

Example User Interface Screens Related to Interactive LinearVisualization of a Navigation Route

Next, FIGS. 2-9 illustrate several example user interface screens thelinear route visualization modules 132 and/or 154 can generate forpresentation via the user interface of the client device 112. Althoughthese screens are illustrated in the vertical orientation of asmartphone, similar screens can be generated for the horizontalorientation of the smartphone as well as for vertical and horizontalorientations of other devices, including devices with round or othernon-standard screens.

Referring first to FIG. 2, an example user interface screen 200 depictsan initial linear visualization of navigation route from an origin(home) to a destination (Kiama). The screen 200 illustrates a sequenceof route segments arranged on a line 220. The visualization modules 132and/or 154 can place on the line 220 an origin indicator 230, adestination indicator 236, intermediate geographic location or waypointindicators 231-235 at the endpoints of the route segments, and a currentlocation indicator 224 in accordance with the current location of theclient device 112. As the user travels along the navigation route, thecurrent location indicator 224 appears to advance along the line 220 toreflect the change in the user's current location.

Some or all of the waypoint indicators 231-235 can be interactive icons.In the example implementation of FIG. 2, the icons include a certainsymbol to indicate that the presentation of one or both route segmentsconnected at the waypoint can be expanded into a presentation of thecomponent route segments. In another implementation, the waypointindicators 231-235 include icons that convey additional informationabout the corresponding geographic locations. For example, the waypointindicator 231 can include an icon for a bridge, the waypoint indicator231 can include an icon for a highway, etc. In yet otherimplementations, the waypoint indicators 231-235 can includerepresentative photographs of the corresponding geographic locations,other graphics, text, etc.

The distances between the waypoint indicators 231-235 along the line 220in one implementation are equal and independent of the correspondingreal-world distances. In another implementation, however, thevisualization modules 132 and/or 154 place the waypoint indicators231-235 along the line 220 at distances that are in approximateproportion to the real-world distances. In yet another implementation,the visualization modules 132 and/or 154 place the waypoint indicators231-235 along the line 220 at distances selected in view of thereal-world distances but not necessarily in direct proportion to thesedistances. Still another implementation of the linear visualization iswhere the waypoint indicators corresponding to the locations distantfrom the current location are spaced closer apart, while the waypointindicators corresponding to the more proximate locations are spacedfarther apart.

Depending on the implementation, the waypoint indicators 231-235 can beselectable via a tap, a double tap, a mouse click, etc. Additionally oralternatively, the segments of the line 200 between pairs of thewaypoint indicators 231-235 can be individually selectable via the userinterface. Thus, in one such implementation, the segment between thewaypoint indicators 233 and 234 for example can be selectable via adouble tap applied directly to the segment. Selection and expansion ofsegments of the line 220 are discussed in more detail below withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, the screen 200 also can include one ormore scenery elements or other map features that may provide additionalcontext for the linear visualization of the navigation route. Forexample, the approximate coastline of the Pacific Ocean in this examplecan inform the user that he or she will pass next to body of water atthe intermediate geographic location corresponding to the waypointindicator 231. Further, the position the approximate coastline and thelabel with respect to the line 220 can inform the user that the PacificOcean is generally on the left relative to the direction of travel. Thevisualization modules 132 and/or 154 can reduce the complexity ofcoastline geometry using a suitable polyline decimation algorithm suchas the Ramer-Douglas-Peucker algorithm, for example, so as to make thepresentation of this feature more schematic.

The screen 200 also can include additional map features such as aschematic representation 238 of a prominent landmark (in this case,Sydney Opera House). The locations of these map features relative toeach other and the line 220 need not precisely correspond to thereal-world locations. Rather, the visualization modules 132 and/or 154can place these map features on the screen 200 to illustrate theapproximate positioning of these map features relative to the waypoints.

Next, FIG. 3 illustrates an example user interface screen 300 in whichthe initial interactive linear visualization of FIG. 2 is updated toillustrate progress of the computing device 112 along the navigationroute. In this scenario, the computing device 112 has advanced pastCross city Tunnel, as indicated by the current location indicator 224.In addition to depicting the current location indicator 224 at a newposition along the line 220, the example screen 300 includes a progressindicator 326 that indicates such information as distance traveled,distance remaining to travel, the total length of the navigation route,the percentage of the navigation route already traveled, etc.

In one implementation, a user can manually advance the current locationindicator 224 along the line 220 using an appropriate gesture, forexample. As a more specific example, the user may wish to know thepercentage of travel that will have been completed once the user reachesthe intermediate geographic location corresponding to the waypointindicator. Using the appropriate interactive control, the user cantemporarily reposition the current location indicator 224 to theintermediate geographic location 235, and the progress indicator 326 isautomatically updated to display new progress information. The linearroute visualization modules 132 and/or 154 then can automaticallyrestore the current location indicator 224 to the position along theline 220 that reflects the actual current location of the computingdevice 112.

FIG. 4 now schematically illustrates user activation of an interactivecontrol on an example user interface screen 400, which is similar to thescreen 300 discussed above. The shaded area 428 in FIG. 4 schematicallyillustrates the area of contact with the user's finger when the usertaps, double-taps, or applies another gesture to the user interface. Theuser in this example scenario operates on the interactive waypointindicator 233.

Depending on the implementation, actuating an interactive waypointindicator such as the waypoint indicator 233 triggers the expansion ofthe entire initial linear visualization or only a portion of the initiallinear visualization (e.g., the two segments of the lined 220 thatconnect the waypoint indicator 233). In one example implementation,actuating any of the waypoint indicators visible on the screen resultsin the expansion of the entire linear visualization, at least to thenext level of specificity; on the other hand, clicking, tapping orotherwise selecting a segment of the line 220 between two waypointindicators results in the expansion of only this segment. Thus, the userchoose to expand the entire linear visualization or only the desiredportion.

In response to the user actuating the waypoint indicator 233, the linearroute visualization modules 132 and/or 154 generate the user interfacescreen 500 illustrated in FIG. 5. In particular, the user interfacescreen 500 depicts an expanded linear visualization of the navigationroute. The entire initial linear visualization is expanded uponactuating the waypoint indicator 233, according to this implementation.Similar to the initial linear visualization, the expanded linearvisualization can include one or more route segment and one or morewaypoint indicators corresponding to intermediate geographic locationsomitted from the initial linear visualization.

The expanded linear visualization of FIG. 5 includes waypoint indicators541-543 corresponding to intermediate geographic locations that,although not indicated in the initial linear visualization, are locatedbetween the intermediate geographic locations corresponding to thewaypoint indicators 232 and 233. The waypoint indicators 541-543 can begenerally similar to the waypoint indicators discussed above. Some orall of the waypoint indicators 541-543 can be interactive to allowfurther expansion of the desired part of the linear visualization, sothat the user can access the next level of specificity when inspectingthe navigation route. In general, a user can iteratively expand a linearvisualization of a navigation route until reaching the tier of atomicroute segments can cannot be expanded any further.

In this scenario, the user interface screen 500 fits only a portion ofthe line 220. An instruction 544, which indicates that he user shouldcontinue driving down M1 after passing the geographic locationcorresponding to the waypoint indicator 233, is displayed near the topof the screen. A control 548 allows the user to reposition the viewingwindow to inspect other route segments and waypoints.

Now referring to FIG. 6, an example user interface screen 600 isgenerally similar to the user interface screens discussed above, exceptthat here waypoint indicators corresponding to geographic locations moreproximate to the current location of the computing device 112 arevisually emphasized relative to the other waypoint indicators. Thus, thefont used to label the waypoint indicator 233 is larger than the font ofthe waypoint indicator 234, which in turn is larger than the font of thewaypoint indicator 236, etc. More generally, the linear routevisualization modules 132 and/or 154 can use any suitable technique tovisually emphasize more proximate items, such as using darker colors todepict more proximate items than the more distance ones, using the“fisheye” perspective to focus on the more proximate items, etc.

In some implementations, a linear visualization of a navigation routecan be presented in a three-dimensional view. One such example userinterface screen 700 is illustrated in FIG. 7. This user interfacescreen can include the current location indicator 224 near the bottom ofthe screen, superimposed on a linear representation of a nonlinearnavigation route. The linear representation of the route is depicted ona tilted plane to create a three-dimensional perspective. Waypointindicators 233-236 in this example implementation can appear next to theroad 720. The size of the waypoint indicators 233-236 can vary to appearlarger near the bottom of the screen, so as to be consistent with thethree-dimensional perspective. As the computing device 112 advancesalong the navigation route, waypoint indicators can be removed or addedas necessary to update the view. In general, the expansion and “drillingdown” techniques discussed above can be applied in a similar manner tothe three-dimensional visualization technique of FIG. 7.

For further clarity, FIG. 8 illustrates an example interactive icon 810which can presented as an interactive waypoint indicator in one of thescreens discussed above. The interactive icon 810 can include aphotographic image 822 selected in accordance with the type ofgeographic feature corresponding to the waypoint indicator (in thiscase, a bridge). The interactive icon 810 more generally can include anysuitable of information such as a schematic icon or a certainalphanumeric character. Further, an expansion indicator 824 can indicatethe number of additional levels of detail available when the linearvisualization is expanded or the number of additional route segments inthe adjacent segment 812 or 814 that can be viewed upon expansion. Stillfurther, location label 826 identifies the geographic location.

As illustrated in FIGS. 9A and 9B, an interactive linear visualizationcan advantageously reside in a panel that occupies only a portion of thescreen, while output of another software application occupies anotherportion of the screen. FIG. 9A illustrates an example user interfacescreen 910 in which a linear visualization 922 of a navigation routeresides in a relatively narrow vertical panel 920. Unlike polylinerepresentations of navigation routes, the linear visualization 922requires little width and allows another application (in this example, aweb browser) to occupy a significantly larger panel 912. Each of thepanels 920 and 912 can receive user input, display output, and ingeneral operate independently of the other panel. In a generally similarmanner, in a user interface screen 950 of FIG. 9B, the linearvisualization 922 also can reside in a panel 960 disposed near a bottomof a screen, while another software application occupies an upper panel954.

In other implementations, the an interactive linear visualization can bedisposed in panels of other shapes. For example, a round screen ofsmartwatch can include a relatively narrow circular panel in which avisualization of a navigation route along an arc can be presented, whileanother circular panel can include other content. Referring back to FIG.2, for example, the line 220 in this implementation can be “bent” intoan arc. In this implementation, the panels can be disposed relative toeach other as concentric circles.

Example Method for Generating an Interactive Linear Visualization of aNavigation Route

Now referring to FIG. 10, an example method 970 for generating aninteractive linear visualization of a navigation route can beimplemented in the linear route visualization module 154 and/or thelinear route visualization module 132, for example. The method 970 canbe implemented as a set of instructions stored on a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium and executable by one or more processors.

The method 970 begins at block 972, where a nonlinear route fortraveling from a source to a destination is determined. The nonlinearroute is made up of a sequence of route segments and intermediategeographic locations or waypoints at which the route segments meet. Thegeometry which these route segments and waypoints define can be apolyline. Depending on the implementation, the nonlinear route can bedetermined at a network server or at a client computing device (e.g.,the computing device 112) using cached or otherwise locally stored mapdata.

At block 974, an initial subset of the intermediate geographic locationsis selected for initial presentation. To select the initial subset, apolyline decimation algorithm can be applied to simplify the polyline.Further, as discussed above, waypoints can be selected from the largerinitial set in view of such factors as the types of roads beingconnected by the maneuver at the waypoint (e.g., highway/highway, localroad/highway), the lengths of the road segments connected at thewaypoint, the prominence of the geographic feature corresponding to thewaypoint (e.g., a distinctive building, a bridge, a monument, a naturalfeature such as a rock), the estimated degree of familiarity of the userwith the corresponding geographic area, etc.

Next, at block 976, indicators of the selected intermediate geographiclocations, or waypoint indicators, are disposed along a single line togenerate an initial linear visualization of the navigation route. One ormore interactive user controls for expanding the entire linearvisualization or a selected portion of the linear visualization isprovided. As discussed above, these controls can be explicit (e.g.,buttons) or implicit (e.g., interactive icons that can be actuated bygestures).

In response to one of these controls being actuated, an expanded linearvisualization of the navigation route can be generated at block 980.More particularly, one or more intermediate geographic locations omittedfrom the initial linear visualization can be added at the appropriatelocations.

Additional Considerations

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a cloud computing environment or as asoftware as a service (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., application program interfaces (APIs).)

Upon reading this disclosure, those of skill in the art will appreciatestill additional alternative structural and functional designs forgenerating a linear visual representation of a navigation route throughthe disclosed principles herein. Thus, while particular embodiments andapplications have been illustrated and described, it is to be understoodthat the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the preciseconstruction and components disclosed herein. Various modifications,changes and variations, which will be apparent to those skilled in theart, may be made in the arrangement, operation and details of the methodand apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the spirit andscope defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, the appearances ofthe phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specificationare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating interactiverepresentations of navigation routes, the method comprising:determining, by one or more processors, a nonlinear route for travelingfrom a source to a destination, the route including a sequence of (i)route segments and (ii) intermediate geographic locations definingendpoints of the route segments; generating, by one or more processors,a linear visual representation of the route on a tilted plane to acreate a three-dimensional perspective; positioning indicators of theintermediate geographic locations along the linear visual representationof the route; providing, on the tilted plane, interactive controls forretrieving additional information related to the intermediate geographiclocations; and displaying the linear representation of the route via auser interface of a computing device.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinpositioning the indicators of the intermediate geographic locationsalong the linear visual representation of the route includes varyingsizes of the indicators so that indicators near the bottom of a screenare larger than indicators near the top of the screen.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining a current location of thecomputing device; and displaying an indicator of the current location ofthe computing device on the initial linear visual representation near abottom of the screen.
 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: asthe computing device advances along the route, removing some of theindicators and positioning new indicators along the linear visualrepresentation of the route.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinpositioning the indicators along the linear visual representation of theroute generates multiple segments of the line between correspondingpairs of the indicators, and wherein providing the interactive controlsincludes providing a respective interactive control for each of thesegments of the line, wherein each interactive control, when activated,generates an expanded linear visual representation of only thecorresponding segment of the route.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereineach of the interactive controls is individually selectable via tappingor clicking.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the initiallinear visual representation includes applying a polyline decimationalgorithm to the nonlinear route to generate a simplified nonlinearroute, wherein the initial subset of the sequence of intermediategeographic locations corresponds to endpoints of segments of thesimplified nonlinear route.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein selectingthe initial subset of the intermediate geographic locations includesselecting the intermediate geographic locations connecting road segmentscorresponding to roads of different types.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein selecting the initial subset of the intermediate geographiclocations includes selecting the intermediate geographic locations inview of their prominence.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein selectingthe initial subset of the intermediate geographic locations includesselecting the intermediate geographic locations in view of lengths ofroad segments which the intermediate geographic locations connect. 11.The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the initial subset of theintermediate geographic locations includes selecting the intermediategeographic locations in view of a metric of user familiarity withgeographic areas traversed by the corresponding route segments.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, wherein positioning the indicators includes selectingan icon corresponding to a type of the intermediate geographic location,for display as a part of the linear representation of the route.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein positioning the indicators includes selectinga representative photograph of the intermediate geographic location, fordisplay as a part of the linear representation of the route.
 14. Themethod of claim 1, wherein positioning the indicators of theintermediate geographic locations along the single line includes spacingthe indicators apart in proportion to distances between thecorresponding geographic locations.
 15. The method of claim 1, whereindisplaying the linear representation of the route via the user interfaceincludes: contemporaneously providing a first panel and a second panelvia the user interface of the computing device, wherein each of thefirst panel and the second panel receives user input and displays outputindependently of the other panel; providing the linear representation ofthe route within the first panel, by a first software application; andproviding output of a second software application within the secondpanel.
 16. A portable computing device comprising: a user interface; andprocessing hardware configured to: determine a nonlinear route fortraveling from a source to a destination, the route including a sequenceof (i) route segments and (ii) intermediate geographic locationsdefining endpoints of the route segments, generate a linear visualrepresentation of the route on a tilted plane to a create athree-dimensional perspective, position indicators of the intermediategeographic locations along the linear visual representation of theroute, provide, on the tilted plane, interactive controls for retrievingadditional information related to the intermediate geographic locations,and display the linear representation of the route via a user interfaceof a computing device.
 17. The portable computing device of claim 16,wherein to position the indicators of the intermediate geographiclocations along the linear visual representation of the route, theprocessing hardware is configured to vary sizes of the indicators sothat indicators near the bottom of a screen are larger than indicatorsnear the top of the screen.
 18. The portable computing device of claim16, wherein the processing hardware is further configured to: determinea current location of the computing device, and display an indicator ofthe current location of the computing device on the initial linearvisual representation near a bottom of the screen.
 19. The portablecomputing device of claim 18, wherein the processing hardware is furtherconfigured to: as the computing device advances along the route, removesome of the indicators and positioning new indicators along the linearvisual representation of the route.
 20. The portable computing device ofclaim 16, wherein to position the indicators of the intermediategeographic locations along the linear visual representation of theroute, the processing hardware is configured to generate multiplesegments of the line between corresponding pairs of the indicators, andwherein to provide the interactive controls, the processing hardware isconfigured to provide a respective interactive control for each of thesegments of the line, wherein each interactive control, when activated,generates an expanded linear visual representation of only thecorresponding segment of the route.